


burning in your fireplace (the sun still rises even with the pain)

by aletterinthenameofsanity



Series: if we're going down in flames (take a bow) [3]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Multi, POV Jonathan Byers, Polyamory, Recovery, Romance, Weddings, blame scoutshonour for all of the fluff in this story, district traditions, i binge read their stoncy fics and the fluff may have bled over, i love Jonathan Byers so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-08-20 04:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20221615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aletterinthenameofsanity/pseuds/aletterinthenameofsanity
Summary: “Alright,” Murray says, “The Command team wants a wedding propos- specifically for some of the Victors- and they want it in the week before we storm Two.”Jonathan snorts. “And why are you telling us?” He, Nancy, and Steve got called by Murray over to his table in the cafeteria- well, summoned, more like, as their communicators had beeped with the yellow type signalling a command they can’t refuse.“Because you three have the most obviously rebellious romance story,” he says casually, and Jonathan nearly chokes on his soup. “Inter-District romance, a polyamorous relationship containing a same-sex pair and the first outlier Volunteer in the history of the Games?” Murray takes a sip of soup. “Practically writes itself, doesn’t it? Show of solidarity and all that?”(Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve get married.)





	burning in your fireplace (the sun still rises even with the pain)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scoutshonour](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scoutshonour/gifts), [lorata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorata/gifts), [Silvershadowe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvershadowe/gifts).

> Title is from "Another Story" by the Head and the Heart, which I wrote most of this fic to.
> 
> Alright, I finally fucking finished writing this after having writer's block for two weeks on the last thousand or so words.
> 
> Also, just want to reiterate that all of the fluff moments in this fic in particular was inspired by scoutshonor's stoncy fics, especially the college stoncy fic "you could be the one to make me feel something." This story is considerably more angsty than theirs, but it was a major inspiration.
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoy!

_ Some people care too much. I think it’s called love. _

**-A.A. Milne**

“Alright,” Murray says, “The Command team wants a wedding propos- specifically for some of the Victors- and they want it in the week before we storm Two.”

Jonathan snorts. “And why are you telling us?” He, Nancy, and Steve got called by Murray over to his table in the cafeteria- well, summoned, more like, as their communicators had beeped with the yellow type signalling a command they can’t refuse.

“Because you three have the most obviously rebellious romance story,” he says casually, and Jonathan nearly chokes on his soup. “Inter-District romance, a polyamorous relationship containing a same-sex pair _ and _ the first outlier Volunteer in the history of the Games?” Murray takes a sip of soup. “Practically writes itself, doesn’t it? Show of solidarity and all that?”

Jonathan remembers the conversation from a couple of years ago, back in his bed in Six, when the three of them had discussed wedding traditions and dreams of one day getting married- dreams they’d never expected they’d ever be able to pull off. 

Jonathan knows that by usual District standards, he, Nancy, and Steve are well past the usual marriage age. Most people get married at eighteen, as soon as their names are out of the Reaping bowl- Nancy and Jonathan are twenty four, while Steve’s twenty three. Their train should have left the station ages ago. If they were anything but Victors, they would have been married with two kids by now.

But they are and they’re not, because President Brenner would have hated it if he had to relinquish the assets he had in Nancy and Steve.

“Is Thirteen okay with a three-person marriage?” Nancy asks, ever-logical, and Murray snorts.

“Any opportunity they have to stick it to the Capitol they’re happy to take,” Murray says, and, well, that's certainly a good point.

Then Jonathan thinks of having to plan the logistics and nearly chokes on his food again. He knows that if it was up to the three of them, it would be simple and quiet and plain, with them going through each others’ Districts wedding traditions and having a small wedding with Mike and Jonathan’s family and Steve’s kids and Robin and probably Enobaria, too. A big extravagant event is not something that Jonathan has ever dreamed of. 

Then again, Jonathan has always been someone who does what needs to be done, if it means providing a better life for the people he loves. He entered the Hunger Games for Will, spent every free moment in the Capitol before his Games rewatching the previous year’s Games for tricks as to how to survive the Arena. He’d put the thoughts of the other twenty three tributes to the side in order to make it home to his brother, mechanically going through the training and trying to pick up as much information as possible in order to have the best chance at surviving the Arena. 

And, well, his efforts had definitely paid off. 

(Jonathan thinks of the trains in Six, of how they keep going, keep getting built, keep getting repaired, never stopping, always going on schedule, always there when needed.)

Having his marriage to the people he actually loves being a televised event, to save the people he loves, isn’t that much of a stretch from everything else he’s done to protect his family in the past. 

“Why not the star-crossed lovers from Twelve?” he asks, though he’s already got an inkling at the reason behind that. 

Murray snorts. “Why do you think, sunshine?”

“Alright, got it,” Jonathan says, then turns to Nancy and Steve, who is the reason this important propoganda meeting is not being held in the Command Center. With his broadcast-trigger, he hasn’t ever stepped foot in the Command Center. “What do you think? Are you willing to get married for the propos?”

“More importantly,” Nancy says, a moment of vulnerability in her voice. “Are you two willing to get married?”

Jonathan thinks back to that night in his bed again, the sense of comfort he’d felt as they’d discussed their District traditions together. He thinks of the years they’ve been together for, the life they built for each other in the Capitol, the sacrifices they’ve made for each other.

Steve speaks before he does, though. "Of course," he says, as if there's no other answer, as if it took no time to think it through, and he's right.

Jonathan nods. "Me too," he says, and Steve grins at him around the bite of sandwich he's just taken.

They both look to Nancy and leans across the table, taking one of each of their hands in each of hers. "Me three, you beautiful idiots. There's nothing I'd like more."

“Good,” Murray says, then takes a bite of his bread. “I’ll tell Plutarch.”

Alright, then. Jonathan looks at Steve and Nancy, who he's just agreed to marry. Just like that. And it honestly doesn't feel too strange.

Murray, however, isn't one to dwell on introspection, moving onto the next stage of coversations. “Are we going to have people walking you three down the aisle?" Murray asks. "We have your mother, Jonathan, and your brother, Nancy, but Steve-”

“Oh,” Steve says with the first genuine smile of this whole thing, “I’ve got someone I’m gonna ask to walk me down the aisle. And I’m pretty sure she’ll say yes.”

“Oh, fuck,” Nancy says, but her smile belies her tone. “You’re not gonna ask-”

“You can only die once, right?” Steve asks, and Jonathan knows exactly who he’s going to ask.

(And, to be honest, Jonathan is kinda looking forward to it. He's also kind of terrified. Either way, he can't wait to see how this turns out.)

-

Enobaria’s the first to congratulate them on the news. Well, if you could call what she says congratulations-

“I better get an invitation to the circus, Nancy, pretty boy,” she says to Nancy and Steve as the three of them enter the training area. Both Nancy and Steve have scheduled sparring time with Enobaria on Wednesdays and Sundays, in addition to unscheduled bouts they have on other days. Today’s a Wednesday- ergo, both of them are ready for sparring, which always leads to them being far more relaxed in the evenings.

“We wouldn’t think of not inviting you,” Nancy says, and Enobaria gives her a grin that really should be less scary now that she has normal teeth, but Enobaria still manages to intimidate Jonathan just as much as she did when her mouth was full of fangs.

(After all, it had been with a normal mouth of teeth that she’d torn out the throat of the Boy from Four and won her Games.)

“In fact,” Steve says, grin wide and not at all intimidated by Enobaria. “I’ve got a question for you.”

Oh, by Panem. Jonathan’s pretty sure that Steve’s gonna get himself killed before the wedding, after everything they’ve gone through, but Enobaria just raises an eyebrow as she stretches. “Then ask it, Seven.”

“I wanted to know if you’d walk me down the aisle.”

Now, Jonathan doesn’t know Enobaria _ nearly _ as well as Steve and Nancy do, so he might have missed some of their bonding moments. But he’s never seen Enobaria’s eyes go wide in shock before. He didn’t even know she _ could _ be surprised, to be honest. But she does straighten up from her stretch, eyebrow raised. “You want _ me _ to walk you down the aisle?” she asks, voice full of clear...well, it’s not exactly confusion, but she obviously doesn’t get why Steve would choose _ her _ as the person to give him away at such a personal ceremony.

Steve nods, giving her an easy grin. “Can’t think of anyone I’d rather have walking me down the aisle.”

“What about Birdy?”

She has to be referring to Robin, because Jonathan can’t think of anyone else that nickname could possibly be reffering to.

Steve shrugs. “You’re my first choice, but she’s a close second. If you say no, then I’ll be happy to ask her. Simple as that.”

Enobaria stares straight at Steve as if trying to put together a train car that’s missing a bolt or two- which is often a response Steve gets here in Thirteen, Jonathan has to admit.

Then, to Jonathan's surprise, Enobaria nods. "Why not?" she asks.

And, well, her decision makes a certain sort of logic, despite Jonathan's utter shock towards it. 

Jonathan is pretty sure that Enobaria has agreed to walk Steve down the aisle for quite a number of reasons, some selfish and some selfless. First off, she has gained a sort of mentor-like role in his life. No one has seen hide or tail of Blight since the Rebellion began, and with everything that went down in the Capitol cells, it makes sense that Enobaria has sort of become that sort of figure in Steve's life. She's sort of a Mentor, and they're kinda friends in general.

Second, from a less sentimental perspective, it is first and foremost a display of inter-district unity. Enobaria is from District Two and Steve's from District Seven. As absolutely huge as the fact is that Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan are getting married, it's one thing to fall in love and to decide to break District Unity for that. It is quite another to actively endorse such an act as another Victor.

Last, it is a symbol of sorts to the remaining resistance in District Two. Enobaria is a very well-known Victor, and as a mentor who brought a Victor out of the games, she is a symbol of the system in District Two. The Mentor-Victor relationships in Two are some of the most sacred in all of Panem. If Enobaria is endorsing her Victor's marriage to two outliers, in front of the rebellion- then that means something far beyond just a Victor endorsing two Districts tying their hands in marriage. It means that Two Victors are willing to join the rebellion out of more than just long-known resentment, such as Lyme, or love, like Nancy. 

"I think your fiance's gonna drive himself as mad as us if he keeps staring at that wall in thought," Enobaria says, pulling Jonathan out of his thoughts, and he looks over to find Steve and Nancy warming up with Enobaria, who's raising her eyebrow at him.

He swallows. "Sorry about that. Just thinking."

Enobaria shrugs. "That's how most of us went mad."

"Oh, he's already mad," Nancy says with a teasing smile, and Steve nods.

"Had to have been mad to agree to marry us," Steve says, and Jonathan just rolls his eyes. 

"You said it, not me," he says.

-

Nancy comes into their room a week later, a flush in her cheeks and a gleam in her eyes.

“I went outside yesterday,” she says, and that explains the red in her cheeks- the winter weather outside is brisk. “And I picked these up.” She pulls two rocks out of her pocket- a small, shiny gray one, about the size of his thumbnail, and a more rough-edged, colorful one half the size of a fist. “Our wedding might be televised, but I want it to have some of us in it. And this- this is how we do things in Two. So, these are for you two idiots that I love far more than ever thought I would. And if you guys want to get rocks, too, then…”

“I’d love to,” Steve says, sheer joy clear on his face as he holds out his hands, cupped together, for her to place one of her rocks in. She hands him the colorful rock, and he holds it as reverently as he kisses her.

Jonathan’s gaze flicks up to Steve’s head, where he currently has his hair covered by a drab gray scarf. For the wedding propos Jonathan has heard that there’s a plan for a hat, wide-brimmed to cover the lack of hair, but for now it’s just that scarf.

Jonathan can’t help but think of the scarf he himself wore for a few days as his throat healing up after the mass-jacking. To this day, his throat sometimes still aches from where Steve choked him, just like his stump aches under his prosthetic.

Before the moment the Capitol broadcast went on, he’d known with every part of himself that Steve never would have hurt him. Even during nightmares, during bad days- Steve had been nothing but gentle with Nancy and Jonathan. But after the mass-jacking, well, it wasn't hard for Jonathan's nightmares to twist on him, going from the usual Arena-nightmares and changing into nightmares of that broadcast blasting on and Steve lunging for his throat.

But then he looks at Steve now, so overjoyed about the rock in his hands, with his stump for a ring finger on his left hand and that scarf covering up the missing hair, and it’s hard to see him as any sort of threat. It’s almost hard to remember the Games in which he made himself a bat that he brained in the heads of kids with.

(Instead, Jonathan can only focus on Steve's gentle, tender smile.)

Then Nancy turns to Jonathan. "And this is for you," she says, pressing the shiny gray rock into his hands, and he has to wonder what made her choose this particular rock for him. He's not entirely sure as to why she chose this for him, but _he_ does know how much it means to her- and thus, how much it means to him.

Jonathan leans forward and kisses Nancy on the cheek. "Thank you so much," he says, and she smiles at him.

"I love you," she says, then looks over at Steve, too. "I love both of you, so much. Sometimes too much."

And, well, Jonathan understands that, far too well.

-

Well, if there’s one thing that the stylist from Twelve- Cinna, Jonathan thinks his name is- that was saved along with the rest of them knows, it's how to design clothing for propos, knows how to tailor clothing that will represent the client while still sending a clear message to all of Panem.

They’re not going to be wearing Thirteen gray for their wedding. No, instead Cinna has designed them all clothing that will represent their Districts while still complementing each other- excellent propaganda pieces, he’d explained to President Coin, who hadn’t cared as long as Cinna had promised to use fabric they’d gotten from Eight rather than Thirteen’s precious supplies.

The three outfits are relatively simple, compared to the extravagant confections their Capitol stylists gave them during their interviews and for their appearances during the Games, various Capitol banquets and galas, and Victory Tours. It’s plenty fancy by District standards- perfect for a wedding- but nothing too crazy. They’re _ certainly _nothing like the wedding dress that Katniss Everdeen had to wear for her last interview before the Quell Reaping.

For Nancy there’s a tea-length dress in dark green (the traditional Seven color of wedded luck), with a wide circle-cut skirt, a white belt, and white heels. They’ve planned a hairstyle with her hair pulled up in the traditional Six wreath of wedding braids, and on closer look her dress, seemingly velvet on first glance, is actually patterned like moss growing on stones. She has a pair of earrings that dangle with a few smooth green and white stones, seemingly completing the look.

For Jonathan they have a dark green suit with a white tie and white shoes- nothing too fancy, by the by, but Jonathan does notice the pattern embroidered in off-white thread on his undershirt and tie- that of train tracks.

Steve has a white circle-brimmed hat edged in dark green ribbon to pair with his white suit (which, for the first time since Jonathan can remember, isn’t cut in a way that’s meant to sexualize him), with a pair of dark green loafers underneath. His cufflinks are shaped like leaves, and the trim on the hat is patterned like leaves as well. The hat is also designed in such a way that his lack of hair is mostly covered up, all of his newer fuzzy patches covered by the hat. The sheer joy in Steve’s expression at the revelation is enough to light up Jonathan’s day.

All the white makes them look innocent. Virginal. Like Steve and Nancy weren’t well-known whores and they aren’t all three child-killers and Victors with more blood staining their hands than all of the seas in Four could ever wash off.

“It’s also the color of peace,” Cinna informs them when Nancy makes the off-color joke at one of their fittings.

“And no fire, right?” Steve asks, tone half-joking and half-dark.

Cinna gives him a smile. “No fire. Just these.” And he holds up three pouches in his hands, ones that have small chains dangling down the sides.

“What’re those for?” Steve asks, raising an eyebrow, but Nancy’s eyes have gone wide. She reaches out a hand for one of them, expression raw.

“Those are the rock pouches,” she says, and Cinna nods.

“They’ll connect to your belts during the ceremony,” he says, “And you can keep your rocks in them during the ceremony, and it can even extend to Jonathan holding the screws for after the ceremony. A good source of mine told me about the tradition in Two.”

Nancy’s eyes might have filled up a bit with tears as Cinna hands her one. Jonathan just hugs her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as her shoulders tremble, just a little bit. There’s so many things that he wants to thank Cinna for, so many small details that are giving them a little bit of their Districts in their wedding, a bit of stability during war.

“Green for luck from Seven, rock pouches from Two, braids from Six, white for all of you,” Cinna says, a small smile on his lips. “Along with some smaller details more personal to each of you, in your own ensembles for the ceremony. A bit of all of your Districts, together, but still maintaining singular details for your own Districts along the way.”

A wedding that both fits them three as a married set as well as makes a propaganda point to Two and the Capitol about inter-District unity. Jonathan’s gotta give it to Twelve’s stylist- he knows what the fuck he’s doing.

"How'd you know about all this?" Steve asks quietly, hands still holding the hat that will replace his usual scarf for the wedding.

"I asked a few little birdies," Cinna says with a smile that almost speaks to an inside joke. "Someone from each of your Districts. I wanted you to get the wedding the Capitol never would have let you had, as much your own as possible."

"Thanks for that," Jonathan says, trying to push as much of his sincerity into his voice in order to really thank Cinna for not just bringing a bit of District Six back to Jonathan, but also bringing Nancy and Steve a bit of their Districts, too."

Cinna smiles at them all. "Not a problem," he says softly.

-

Steve’s recovery isn’t pretty. (Not that Jonathan expected it to be, thanks to their experience with the Games and everything they had to deal with because of that. Recovery from the Games weren't pretty- why would recovery from torture be any better?)

Steve often wakes up gasping Nancy and Jonathan’s names, hands scrabbling across the sheets to whichever of the two of them is sleeping with him. They both have their ways of helping him- Nancy tends to run her fingers through Steve's hair, whispering quiet reassurances until he remembers that she's there, while Jonathan kisses his forehead and holds Steve close to his chest, using physical touch to help keep the nightmares at bay.

Steve's kids- because all of the kids in their room have claimed Steve as theirs, by this point- are all there for him. Sometimes, on the nights when Steve's sleeping on his own on the bottom bunk, Jonathan wakes to find that one of the kids had crawled into bed with Steve and fallen asleep curled up next to him. Most often it's Erica, Dustin, or Lucas, who were all there in those cells and who understand what Steve went through.

And Jonathan tries to help Steve. He really does. He loves this man as deeply as he does Nancy. He’s going to marry this man in just a couple of weeks. He can’t imagine _ not _ spending the rest of his life with this man. So he helps as he can, doing his best to support Steve-

But he can’t stop the flinch he makes when Steve’s hand goes to cup his cheek, just like he always did before the Quell, and it slides along the base of his jaw closer to his neck. Steve’s done this a good hundred times before, but Jonathan still shudders away.

Steve jerks away immediately, his hand snatching back as if Jonathan’s skin burns.

“Shit,” Jonathan mutters, staring at the way Steve’s eyes widen in utter guilt.

“I’m-” Steve says, swallowing hard. “I’m sorry.”

Why is it that this kiss of all kisses did that do him? The two of them have kissed plenty of times since jacked-Steve strangled Jonathan, and Jonathan’s never flinched before. They’ve been _ fine _, really, honestly.

But to be honest, Jonathan knows why. It’s that this time, Steve’s hand grazed the spot where the bruises used to lie on Jonathan’s neck- that’s what finally fucked with Jonathan’s mind.

And Jonathan hates it, because that wasn’t Steve. That might have been Steve’s hands, Steve’s body, but that wasn’t Steve, the boy Jonathan fell in love with the time he confessed that he was enduring the Capitol to protect him and Nancy, the first time he cracked a joke about ice cream, the first time they kissed, the moment Steve stood at the end of the Games, fucking _ alive _ despite it all.

“How the fuck are we supposed to get married if I make you scared of me?” Steve asks, and Jonathan thinks Steve strangling him might have hurt less.

Jonathan has spent years documenting every aspect of Steve and Nancy, learning every part of their bodies and minds and hearts. He knows that Steve Harrington loves romance movies and food and his kids and Nancy and Jonathan. He knows that Steve has the biggest heart of anyone he’s ever met, that he loves to his own destruction. He _ knows _ that Steve would never hurt him.

He’s not scared of Steve. He couldn’t be.

“Jonathan,” Steve continues, voice soft, “You don’t have to marry me. You really don't. Not if- not if you’re scared. Not after I hurt you.”

Steve’s laugh is one of the most sacred things in Jonathan’s life, right next to his brother’s hugs and Nancy’s deft hands and his mother’s soup. It is a thing of beauty, just like the boy that it’s attached to.

And fuck everything if Jonathan would ever even _ think _ of giving it up.

“I can’t not,” Jonathan says, reaching out a hand. He takes Steve’s fingers in his, entwining them together. “You can’t make me let go of you after everything we’ve been through together.” His voice grows firm as he says: “Listen to me.” Steve’s head jerks up, his gaze going from their hands to Jonathan’s eyes. “That wasn’t your fault. That- what I just did- that was just my body’s instinct. I believe in you, okay? I _ love _ you. I know you wouldn’t hurt me. What your body did, when you were jacked- that wasn’t you. I’m not gonna let the Capitol get between us. Not now. Not after everything. We've got so much shared trauma already, Steve- this is just a little bit more.”

“He’s right, you know?” Nancy asks, and they both whip around to see her at the doorway, furious tears burning in her eyes. “What they did to you- that will _ never _ get us to let go of you. That will never be the reason that we ever split.”

She steps forward and presses a kiss to Steve’s cheek, under the place where a bruise sat when he first escaped the Capitol cells. Jonathan’s never going to forget the way Steve looked when he first arrived on that battlefield in Two, battered and beaten, the way he’d had to stay looking for weeks. 

(Thirteen doesn’t have a Remake. All of the scars, wounds, and bruises from the Capitol cells had to heal mostly on their own, only helped along by simple medicines. There were some painkillers, but very few cosmetic drugs.)

And that’s what Jonathan always thinks back to, any time he starts to think about the ache in his throat. The fact that Steve would never hurt him, that he went through all of that torture in order to protect as much information as he could about Nancy and Jonathan as possible.

Steve’s voice is hoarse when he speaks. “I’m so lucky to have you two.”

“We’re lucky to have you,” Jonathan says, automatic because it’s fucking _ true_, because they’ve been lucky to have Steve to settle and comfort them since that first night. Jonathan and Nancy- they worked as a couple, yeah, but Steve slid into that third spot and filled a whole bunch of cracks they didn’t know were there. He smiled and made them smile and brought a sense of joy into their lives.

And then Jonathan steps forward and he kisses Steve full-on, guiding Steve's hand up to his neck where it rests, trembling, against the base of Jonathan's jaw as they kiss. Jonathan's neck is the station where Steve's hand comes in for a stop, returning home where it's supposed to be.

"Believe us now?" Jonathan asks when they part, and Steve gives him a half-smile, something tender and fond and a million emotions that makes Jonathan's heart race but are the furthest possible thing away from scaring him.

"I believe you," he says, voice cracking. 

-

That night Steve ends up in the bottom bunk next to Jonathan, curled into his side with his head tucked against Jonathan’s neck. His hair, grown in a bit since he escaped the Capitol, tickles Jonathan’s jaw a bit, but he doesn’t care as he holds onto Steve, pulling him in close because the Capitol can’t fucking take this away from them.

“I’m gonna slice President Brenner’s fucking face off when we get to him,” Nancy says quietly from the top bunk, and Jonathan knows she’s not joking- she’s making a promise. And Nancy always keeps her promises.

Jonathan looks at Steve, at the scarf tied to the ladder of the bed above their heads, at everything the Capitol’s stolen from them. He thinks about nights when Steve or Nancy wouldn’t be in bed in their apartment because the President had mandated that their bodies be used for the Capitol’s benefit. He thinks about how his stump itches under his prosthetic, about how his photos had been taken and sold to the highest bidder. He thinks about that Reaping when Petulle Gretchen had called out Will’s name in that sugary voice of his and Jonathan hadn’t hesitated to Volunteer, knowing that he’d either come out a killer or not come out at all.

“I’ll hold the knives for you,” Jonathan says, a promise of his own, and Nancy lets out an audible breath.

“I can’t wait ‘til this is all over and we can get a bed big enough for the three of us,” Nancy says, and Jonathan thinks longingly of the bed she’d bought for their Capitol apartment. There are very, very few things about that city that he misses, but that bed is one of them. (The pool and his camera are probably the only other two things.)

“Whenever the war’s over, we’ll get a place in one of the Districts,” Jonathan says, “Our own little house, for the three of us. No more Capitol, no more Thirteen- just us. We’ll have a piano-”

“And a camera, and a tv for Steve,” Nancy adds, voice getting a bit excited. Jonathan can’t deny that he is, too- after years of living in the Capitol, watching Nancy and Steve be devoured by Capitolites, only getting to spend half of his time with them, he can’t wait until the day that they’re all married and have their own house.

“Don’t forget rooms for the kids,” Steve mutters into Jonathan’s neck, and Jonathan smiles into Steve’s hair. “And ‘Bari.”

“I still can’t believe that you call her that,” Nancy says from up above with a small huff.

“Sure she’d let you,” Steve says, still into Jonathan’s neck.

“I think you two have a connection that she and I don’t have,” Nancy says, “Just as I have something with her that you don’t, too. She’s my Mentor, but she’s _ your _ friend.”

Steve snorts into Jonathan's neck, still refusing to budge from his position against Jonathan's side, and Steve's face is pressing deep against Jonathan's neck but he doesn't care. Jonathan's never felt safer than when he has Steve or Nancy in his arms. "Don't know if she'd call me that."

"She agreed to walk you down the aisle," Jonathan says, "Not that I'm an expert on Enobaria, but I think that counts as calling you her friend."

"I'd have to agree," Nancy says.

"Would you three shut up?" comes a voice from the end of the room, and Jonathan takes a moment to identify the voice as that of Max, the girl that he's pretty sure Jane has a crush on. "We've all got training in the morning and you all are stupidly loud with your drama."

"Sure thing, Mad Max," Steve says, somehow completely at ease with any teenager in a way that Jonathan could never dream to be. Steve snuggles just a little bit closer to Jonathan, curling in a little tighter, and Jonathan knows that they've worked their way through a few things.

-

In between wedding planning and recovery, Jonathan and Nancy continue their work on the war. Jonathan’s still a part of Katniss Everdeen’s propos squad, while Nancy is doing a lot of planning with the recon team as well as training of some of the soldiers that are set to storm Two just a week after their big wedding.

Steve, surprisingly enough to anyone who doesn’t know him, has volunteered to help watch over and teach the youngest of children, kids who don’t stare at the scarf around his hair or his missing finger. The school doesn’t have any TV screens, thus preventing Capitol broadcasts and thus preventing triggers, and the position got cleared pretty quickly after Steve had passed his mental evaluations.

And Steve’s _ really _ good at what he does. He’s got a patience for the kids’ questions and antics and an enthusiasm not easily matched by, well, anyone, not when it comes to helping young kids out. He may not have all the right answers, but damn does he try.

One day Jonathan stops by the door to the classroom Steve operates out of and looks in. He watches Steve with the kids and bites his lip. This Steve, with his kids, who laughs without pain and tells stories to the kids and is gentle and soft to the children- this is the man that he and Nancy fell in love with, the gentle-handed killer who trusted them that first night instead of running away when they’d offered their bed to him. This isn’t what the Capitol tried to make of him- this is just Steve Harrington in all of his wonderful, awkward, gentle glory.

“He’s so happy,” Nancy says from next to him. She also has a small block of free time between work in the Command Center and training, and they’ve made it a sort of routine to drop by the school for a few minutes. Sometimes they catch Steve in a moment of break, in between activities with the kids, and sometimes, like today, he’s busy. Either way, Jonathan rarely feels like the time is wasted.

“I’m glad that the Capitol couldn’t break him,” Jonathan says, because the Games and years as a Capitol whore and months of torture couldn't leech that smile from Steve's lips, couldn't turn him into something harsh.

“They couldn’t break any of us,” Nancy says, a strength to her voice that Jonathan has always leaned into, has always been able to count on. Nancy’s always been that, for Steve and Jonathan- mountain-strong, a leader and a fighter and the absolute best that Two has produced.

He turns from the door to the kids’ school and kisses Nancy, soft and tender, not as if she’ll break but as a reminder that even during war, they still have this. They still have each other. He has Nancy, as he's had since his Victory Tour, and maybe the two of them aren't as gentle or warm as Steve always has been but they’re still here, and in love and-

Nancy laughs softly against Jonathan’s lips. “You’re thinking too hard.”

“There _ is _ kind of a war going on,” Jonathan says with a small laugh, and there’s nothing normal about the life they’re living but there _ is _ something normal about them, together, the two of them and Steve.

“There _were_ the Games before," she says as his fingers slide into the base of her hair, as natural as breathing. They fit together like bolts into holes on a train. "You did plenty of thinking then."

Jonathan shrugs. "You're right about that."

She chuckles and leans in to kiss Jonathan again, their lips sliding together. "Kiss me, you idiot."

And, well, Jonathan never protests that.

-

Then, after they've sorted out their shit a bit, after everything starts to feel okay and anticipation is really starting to build in Jonathan's heart for his wedding (which, yes, is being engineered for the propos, but he's getting married to the two people he loves most so it has to be at least somewhat wonderful), Command interferes again- this time with orders for Steve and Nancy to do another propos, this one leading up to the wedding.

And this propos- it's with Finnick Odair and Cashmere Vere, because the Command is rebelling against the Capitol but they're not that different, really, in how much they want their Victors to divest their privacy and let the whole world devour their privacy. Command wants them to share the details of their time in the Capitol, the exact abuses that the Capitol did to its whores.

"I've already Volunteered to help out," Finnick says, smile easy and confident, and out of the five of them, Steve's the only one who doesn't understand that initial moment where they shout that name that isn't yours and yet your feet still take you up to that platform and onto that train.

"Same here," Cashmere says, looking similarly nonchalant at the situation. Jonathan remembers finding her and Aurum on the hovercraft that pulled them out of the Capitol before the Quarter Quell was set to begin. Her and Gloss' little sister Carol was the female tribute from One for the Quell, and she'd been the one of the Two of them who'd chosen to be Carol's Mentor.

Jonathan immediately rises to protest. "They shouldn't have to do that."

Nancy clearly agrees. "How is this in any way factoring into the wedding propos?" Nancy demands, "I thought you all wanted to show how _happy_ we are. How much we love each other." 

"You want to take down the Capitol, kid?" Murray says, tone blunt. "You need to show the Districts how the Capitol treats even its precious favorites. No one is immune _but _the Capitol. We want to show how you overcame said punishment and found happiness, but also how that happiness was crippled by the Capitol."

Jonathan looks over at Nancy and Steve's faces. Steve's is paler than normal, while Nancy's has gone pinched.

"Two especially needs to see it," Claudius says from his position within the propos editing team. "They have a view of being untouched and respected by the Capitol. Knowing that even _our_ Victors get used like this could possibly turn some minds."

Nancy glances between Jonathan and Steve and everyone else in the room. Her eyes catch on Jonathan's and she must see something as she says: "Then Jonathan's coming with us to the filming site. Non-negotiable."

Murray shrugs before Heavensbee can protest. "Fine with me. Just get it over with soon, alright? Your wedding's just next week and we've gotta get the propos up first."

-

Once they get down to the side of the river to film, Finnick and Cashmere go first, providing a sort of basis for the whole thing. Between them, they lay out how the Capitol whored out its Victors for money and intimidation, relating a few of their more personal and intimate details in the meantime.

Then it's Steve's turn, and he doesn't lock eyes with the camera for once, instead just staring off to the side of it at Jonathan. Steve, the eternally suave, is obviously uncomfortable with this subject. He gets his part done before eventually passing it off to Nancy, who, well, fucking nails it. 

"I was punished because I did what I was told in the Centre and I survived the Arena. I won how I could. I did what was necessary. And because of that, well, I ended up in the Capitol being fucked by Capitolites, because I survived the Games how I could and they said I was too clever for doing so."

And from there on, Nancy, Steve, Cashmere, and Finnick bounce off of each other, volleying information back and forth. Katniss and Peeta seem shocked, and even Jonathan, who knew exactly how many nights Steve and Nancy were missing, didn't realize the sheer entirety of how much shit they had to go through. How many people they fucked. How cruelly they were fucked. Detail upon horrid detail, whipping the facade off of nearly every Capitolite in a position of power.

The whole time, Steve doesn't remove his scarf around his head. He doesn't want to, and he doesn't need to. There's plenty of power in the lack of his hair, in his words, in the revelation of the horrible things that were done to him and Nancy to not need to show what lies on the top of his head.

Then the camera finally shuts off and Steve lets out a shuddering breath, his entire body slumping just a bit as if the puppet strings have been cut. "That fucking sucked," he says, and Nancy leans sideways into him, nodding. She doesn't seem as drained as Steve does, her posture still straight and her expression not terrible, but Jonathan knows how much Nancy tries to maintain at least some sense of privacy, no matter how used she's gotten to privacy getting ripped from her fingers.

"Yeah, it did suck," Nancy agrees.

Jonathan scrambles forward and pulls both of them into a hug. Over his shoulder, the camera crew is packing their shit up while Katniss actually seems a bit rocked and Peeta looks aggrieved.

"That's over," he says, "You will _never_ have to do that again. We're going to get married _and_ the Rebellion will win and we'll all be safe. I promise."

Nancy turns her head a little, tucking her head against the slope of his shoulder, and Steve lays his head on Jonathan's lap from the opposite direction, laying the rest of his body on the ground.

Katniss seems torn between nausea and fury. Peeta, on the other hand, opens his mouth, apology in his eyes. "I'm sorry for what you had to go through," he says, and he seems genuinely apologetic.

"Thanks," Steve says, the easiest of them to get along with other people. Nancy doesn't quite like Katniss' attitude toward the Careers, but she at least nods.

Katniss then heads off to get some kind of a hold on her emotions by hunting- Jonathan can't blame her, by the by- and Finnick Odair plops himself down next to the three of them.

"Congrats on finding each other and him, by the way," Finnick says, "I'm looking forward to the wedding."

Jonathan glances at him, seeing something almost wistful in his eyes. "Do you..." he asks, "Do _you_ have someone?"

"Kind of," Finnick says, an uncharacteristically fond smile on his face as he glances over at Cashmere, who's currently running through target practice with Katniss and Cressida. She looks deadly in the same way that Nancy does when she's on the range, whether with her knives or her gun. "It's complicated. But the Rebellion- it's given us a chance, of sorts." 

Then, all of a sudden, Steve lifts his head from Jonathan's lap and stands up from Jonathan and Nancy. He walks off, leaving Nancy and Jonathan blinking after him.

"What was that?" Finnick asks, a somewhat amused smile on his lips.

"That was Steve," Jonathan says, "He often does things that can't quite be explained immediately."

But explained they are, usually, as Steve returns about five minutes later with rocks in his hand. One is golden in color, about as big as the one Nancy gave him, and the other is a speckled black-and-white rock that is almost indistinguishable from a small bird's egg.

"For the loves of my life," Steve says, handing the black-and-white rock to Jonathan and the golden one to Nancy, who smiles at him like he's hung the sun- not a strange expression from either Jonathan or Nancy when it comes to Steve.

Jonathan now has a rock from each of his fiances- now he just has to get one for each of them, too. 

-

A week before the wedding, Jonathan takes his siblings outside. Jane's been begging to go hunting- apparently Max from District Two's been teaching her a lot- and Will's been begging to hang out, just the three of them, and Jonathan has never been one to refuse time with his little siblings.

"So," Will says, sitting down on a stump as Jane paces the clearing and the nearby forest, flitting about trying to hunt something and moving like her winter coat weighs nothing. Jonathan's brought his knife to skin any kills they have to make, but for now he's content to just stand back and watch. "You're getting married."

Jonathan nods, thinking about his wedding suit with the finishing touches still being executed by Cinna, about the fact that he still has to get Steve and Nancy rocks. "That I am."

“You know,” Will says, “It’ll be nice to have another brother. _And_ another sister.”

“As if I and Jane weren't enough?” Jonathan asks, and Will just grins.

"Can never have enough siblings," Will just says as Jonathan looks out at Jane. Jonathan watches as Jane sends an arrow straight into the eye of a squirrel, knocking it dead in an instant, and he recognizes the blow for what it is- a kill shot.

The girl who used to get frequent nosebleeds, who once told Nancy she was _prettier than a new hovercraft_, could have won the Quarter Quell.

Jonathan lets out a breath. He doesn't have to focus on the past, on the _could-have-beens._The Rebellion's happening now. Will and Jane will never be Reaped ever again.

Instead, he just looks down at the ground around him, trying to figure out what rocks would work for a marriage. Jonathan's not as familiar with stones as Nancy is- he grew up in urban Six, where one calculated the strength of metal rather than stone- but he has a feeling that he'll know Nancy and Steve's rocks when he sees them.

Next to the dead squirrel, he spots a dark gray stone with cracks of black running through it. It's about the size of a shot glass, and when he picks it up he finds that one side is a smooth plane while the others are bumpy and rough. He doesn't know what it's called, but he knows that it reminds him of Steve, with the smooth facade he put up for the Capitol, the one that covered up all of the bits of him that the Capitolites wouldn't have liked but that Jonathan and Nancy found beautiful.

Jonathan pockets the stone, knowing that this is the one he'll contribute to Steve's rock pouch for the wedding. Now, for Nancy's-

"What's that for?" Will asks, eyes inquisitive and interested.

"Wedding tradition from Two," Jonathan says, because he's never been one to ignore his brother's questions, and Jane stops in her tracks and turns to look at him, brow creased.

"What's a wedding tradition in Two?" she asks.

"You wanna know because you've got a crush on Max, right?" Jonathan asks, smile teasing, and Jane's cheeks flush.

"Betcha Will wants to know, too!" she tries to deflect, and now it's Will's turn to blush.

"Why'd you say that?"

"You like Nancy's little brother, don't you?" she asks, and Jonathan has to resist the urge to laugh at the expression of utter surprise on his brother's face.

"Not important," Will protests, and Jonathan smiles at his brother and his sister, completely alive and happy, all because he Volunteered all those years ago. All because the Rebellion saved them before they entered the Quell.

Jonathan leans down and picks up a second rock- tiny and spiky and brown and bound to wear a hole in the shoe of anyone who steps on it. Strong and tough, just like Nancy. He pockets this as well before turning and smiling at his siblings.

"I'm glad to have you guys coming to my wedding," he says. "And that you _both _have crushes on people who would be so lucky to have you."

Jane grins. "Thanks, big brother."

-

That evening he steps into their room, where Nancy and Steve are already waiting for him.

"These are for you two," he says, holding out the rocks. No preface, no romantic gesture- just the rocks he found them.

Steve takes his with a kiss to Jonathan's cheek, while Nancy stares at hers for a long moment, some strange expression on her face. Eventually, though, she says: "Thank you."

He kisses her back, pulling her in close and placing a kiss on her lips. "Anything to make you happy," he says, and he means it. 

-

The day before the wedding, they go outside to chop down three tree branches. Steve leads them on an expedition to find three of the best, straightest possible branches possible, completely ignoring the freezing cold winter weather- which makes sense, honestly, due to Seven’s location in the far north. 

Seeing Steve in his natural element is something to witness, definitely, just like seeing Nancy in the war planning room or in the training area. Steve, with his muscles moving as he chops down a branch, only a thin jacket wrapped around him unlike the thick coats both Jonathan and Nancy are wearing. Jonathan can't help but stare at his muscles moving- he's only human, after all.

Steve stops for a moment to wipe his brow. “Anyone want to help?” he asks, raising a suggestive eyebrow at them both.

“Just admiring the show,” Jonathan quips, and Steve rolls his eyes.

“Come over here and kiss me, Byers,” he says, and Jonathan nearly resists except for the fact that Steve is biting his lower lip right now in concentration and if that isn’t the fucking hottest thing possible-

Moments later find Steve dropping the ax on the ground next to the tree as Jonathan kisses his way into Steve’s mouth, the sound of Nancy’s laughter echoing out beautifully behind them. There is no flinching, no shudders- just one of Jonathan’s hands fisted in Steve’s dark gray jacket, the other at the base of his neck, playing with the end of the gray scarf wrapped around his hair. The scarf is nearly unnecessary save for warmth against the winter air, at this point- his hair isn’t close to what it used to be, but most of the bald spots have grown back in so that his hair is at least the same length all around- but Steve continues to wear it, probably out of some kind of misplaced insecurity. Steve’s always been proud of his hair, and the loss of it has done some damage to his self-esteem.

“You know you’re still beautiful, right?” Jonathan whispers against Steve’s lips, and Steve smiles.

“So’re you,” Steve says, and that’s not what Jonathan meant, but he gets it anyway. He gets that, unlike Nancy and Steve, he’s not the traditionally beautiful type. It’s never bothered Jonathan that much, really, and it’s actually been a bit of a help when he realized what the Capitol might have done to him if he were conventionally attractive. He _ especially _ didn’t care when he realized that his less-than-conventionally-attractive features didn’t matter to Nancy and Steve. If these two people are attracted to him, then the rest of the country doesn't really matter. 

“You two are so sappy,” Nancy says with a smile as she steps up close to them. 

“Well, we _ are _ getting married tomorrow,” Steve says, face splitting into a wide grin at the words, just as he always smiles whenever their wedding is mentioned. As happy as the proposition makes both Nancy and Jonathan, Steve is utterly overjoyed by the prospect of their wedding. Jonathan thinks it’s the romantic in him, a bit of that rom-com fan in Steve. “Gotta train, right?”

“Can never argue with a bit of training,” Nancy says, and Steve leans forward and quickly kisses her as well, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into a hug as he does so.

“Shouldn’t we get back to chopping branches?” Jonathan asks with a laugh as Steve ends up tucking his face into Nancy’s hair, pulled under a small knitted hat. Steve’s the only one of them not wearing a hat, just his scarf around his head.

“Get the fuck over here first, Johnny Boy,” Steve says, his face muffled in Nancy’s hair, and Jonathan happily obliges, tucking himself in close to these two people that he’ll be marrying tomorrow.

His mouth goes a bit dry at the thought of them jumping over the tree branches tomorrow, of them exchanging rings, of Steve in his suit and hat and Nancy in her wedding dress. Of his mother walking him down the aisle. Of everyone dancing and simultaneously striking a blow at the Capitol that tried to devour and ruin them.

Their relationship isn't a conventional one, not at all. Three Victors, all from different Districts, who made themselves monsters in order to survive. They fell together in the Capitol, the place that devours and spits out District citizens, and somehow stayed. They all saved each other, in a way, just as they saved themselves in the Games. They held each other and supported each other and helped each other through the Games, were each others' rocks and trees and stations.

Jonathan can't wait to put a ring on his finger tomorrow. Their relationship won't really change- they've been exclusive (well, emotionally so) for years now, since the very night that Steve first entered their room.

Well, actually, Jonathan guesses that there _is_ a pretty big difference- a sort of physical exclusivity. The very public declaration that the three of them are in love and that Steve and Nancy _don't_ want to make love with anyone but each other and Jonathan. The idea that the three of them are all there is for each other, for the rest of their lives, and all of Panem will know.

Yeah, Jonathan can't wait for tomorrow, because Steve and Nancy will finally, officially be free.

(And married to him. They'll be his, and he'll be theirs. Officially. Which Jonathan can't deny sounds absolutely wonderful.)

-

Their wedding ends up being a riot of beautiful, happy chaos, going as smoothly as possible while still allowing for more celebration than the District’s seen in the whole time Jonathan and Nancy have been there. The wedding party is made up of the kids, from Will and Jane and Mike to Lucas and Dustin and Erica and Robin, with even Max rounding it out.

Jonathan and his Mom walk down the aisle first. Mom's gotten a new dress for the ceremony, maybe the only new dress she's ever gotten in her life. Plain in a dark green, it looks rather nice on a woman that Jonathan's pretty sure he's only ever seen wear a dress for Reapings and her wedding. She then deposits him at the platform in the middle of the great hall, leaving him to watch as his fiances walk in themselves.

There is no fire in Nancy’s dress as she walks up the aisle next, Mike holding her elbow, but there is something that rings out with every step, a sound that somehow reminds Jonathan of stones falling and hitting the ground. There’s something stronger than flint in her gaze, something unmovable and unshaking in her stance. She is as beautiful and strong as a mountain, something that Cinna has managed to capture the essence of in her simple dress with its cap sleeves.

Then comes Steve, and Jonathan doesn’t think he’s ever seen a bigger shit-eating grin on Steve’s face than when he walks down the aisle on Enobaria’s arm. Enobaria certainly looks a bit more at ease than she ever did the times he saw her in the Capitol, and probably because she’s not in a dress- Enobaria’s in a gray jumpsuit, fancy enough to show in the propos as part of the wedding, but still calling back to both Two and Thirteen, with that shared hue in their color palette.

And together- damn, Jonathan doesn’t think he’s ever seen anything more beautiful than Steve and Nancy heading down the aisle, one after the other, and he doesn’t know who made the decision for him to be desposited at the dais first (he’s pretty sure the reason is that he’s the most visible of them three, for the first time ever, as a member of Katniss’ propos squad) but he’s thanking them because it means that he gets to watch _ this_. Watch them, happier than he’s ever seen them, walking to the dais an into their future marriage.

At the dais, they end up exchanging rings- the only inter-District symbol that will be recognized by _ all _ the citizens of Panem. Simple silver bands, nothing too fancy- just like them, at the core of their relationship.

Then they jump over the branches together, with Nancy in the middle holding Steve and Jonathan’s hands (only felt right, really, considering that she was here first). The rocks came before the ceremony, and the bolts come after, so that’s really the only District tradition they can show in the actual ceremony itself.

And in the eyes of the country, they’re married. This isn’t his girlfriend and boyfriend he’s standing with in front of dozens of cameras and all of Panem- this is his husband and wife.

Fucking shit. His husband and wife. The words feel so new but so natural, like the final station a train pulls into at the end of the night.

\- 

There are quite a number of three-person dances from Two, Six, and Seven that all three of them know, having learned them in the kitchen and living room of their apartment over the years, and they pull them off with wide smiles on their lips. Nancy’s dress swirls around her legs, Steve’s bright hat nearly goes flying off a few times, and Jonathan’s jacket ends up getting deposited on a random chair so that he can dance properly. 

To be honest, Jonathan's never had this much fun in his life. He's never been happier than when he can feel his wedding ring on his finger, have Nancy's hand in one hand and Steve's in the other. Dancing around the room, spinning with the two of them- by Six, he can't imagine anything more wonderful.

Then they split off into partnered dances- the first of which is him and Nancy. Steve steps away to dance with Robin, leaving Jonathan and Nancy to dance together, her leading him through the moves.

A bit of the helium leaves his heart as he sees that Nancy is smiling, but that there's a sort of melancholy to her smile. "You know the only thing that could make this day better?" She asks, and Jonathan has a feeling. "If Mom and Holly were here."

Something squeezes in Jonathan's chest. His brother, sister, and Mom are all here in District 13. Hopper, his stepdad, is still alive, though he's tied up in District Six at the moment helping sort through everything. Nancy's mother, on the other hand, is still on the list of those unaccounted for in District Two, which they're set to siege next week.

"Hey," a semi-familiar voice asks, and Jonathan looks up to find Lyme and Claudius, District Two's only two Victors to join the Rebellion besides Enobaria and Nancy, dancing beside them.

"Just wanted to say congratulations," Lyme says, lips curving into a smile. "You deserve to be happy."

Nancy's smile goes wide and round in a way that it only does when she's genuinely happy about something. "Thank you. It means a lot."

Claudius' smile is sharp but seems plenty genuine. "Oh, I know it does."

Lyme rolls her eyes in an almost maternal way at him, then nods at Nancy. "Have a great evening, kid."

Nancy doesn't even protest the moniker, just nods in response. "You too."

Then Lyme and Claudius leave Nancy and Jonathan to finish out the last few movements of the song, spinning and tapping their way across the room. As the music fades away, they're interrupted- but it's a plenty welcome interjection.

"How are my two favorite people in the world doing?" a very familiar voice asks, and Jonathan turns just slightly to find Steve standing beside them, done with his dance with Robin.

"Fantastic," Nancy says, then spins Jonathan into Steve's arms. "Time for your turn to dance with your husband, darling."

Steve smiles as he pulls Jonathan in and they begin to dance. Jonathan tucks his face into the crook of Steve's neck for just a moment, breathing him in. This Steve doesn't smell like Capitol perfume or the sickly sweet scent of Capitolites- no, he just smells a bit salty, feels a bit warm. And Jonathan's gonna get this for the rest of his life.

Jonathan leans back, smiling. "I love you, you know?"

Steve nods. "I love you too."

Yeah, Jonathan doesn't think that he's ever going to get used to that. And he doesn't think he _wants_ to get used to it- he wants every time that they say that to feel as special as the moment that Steve had asked Nancy and Jonathan if he could stay with them.

\- 

Then they switch partners once they're done dancing with each other, dancing with all of their friends and family and co-workers. Jonathan moves from Will to Robin to even Katniss Everdeen at one point and Lyme at another.

As for everyone else, well, one time, he spots Katniss and Peeta dancing with each other in the crowd, looking genuinely happy in each others’ arms. He can’t help but be happy for them, just as he’s happy to see Finnick Odair dancing with Cashmere and Lucas dancing with Max and Will dancing with Mike and Erica dancing with Prim Everdeen. Everyone deserves a bit of happiness, nowadays, after everything they’ve had to go through.

One of the most intense moments of the evening is a few dances later, when they’re all trading partners for a traditional Two dance and Enobaria swings from Nancy’s arms to his, and suddenly Jonathan ends up dancing with the woman that’s become a Mentor of sorts to both of his husband and his wife.

“I’m not going to give you the knife talk,” Enobaria says, a glint to her eyes.

“I thought it was called the shovel talk,” Jonathan says, then kind of wants to shoot himself in the foot when Enobaria grins.

“In Two we call it the knife talk,” Enobaria says, “Because that’s the weapon I’d be using to carve your liver out if your hurt either of them.”

Jonathan nods. “Nice to know they’ve got you on their side, ma’am. But I think they’ve got themselves covered if I ever fuck up.” Being a Victor kind of means that you’re your own shovel talk, in a way.

“Got that right, Six,” Enobaria says, then twirls Jonathan when the chorus hits again.

-

It takes hours, but they eventually leave the wedding. They’re somehow missing Steve’s vest and Jonathan’s jacket but they’ve still got their rock pouches and laughter on their lips and that’s all that’s needed.

They have one stop before they head to their temporary room- they head to the garages where the hovercraft are held, where Jonathan’s been given three bolts that he currently carries in his pouch alongside his rocks.

Jonathan remembers a long time ago, before the Games, when he’d spent his early years screwing in bolts into harder-to-reach places on crafts in the evenings, trying to help earn his mother money to make up for the loss of his father, while still trying to get in his four hours of school _ and _ watching Will in the evenings. He’d gotten really good at his job, and it had made him a chunk of change or a couple of rolls everyday, enough to help Mom out.

They stop in the garages and Jonathan shows Nancy and Steve, his hands steady, how to screw in those bolts. They work patiently alongside him, hands used to holding guns and knives and axes steady against the wrenches and bolts. Jonathan feels something slide into place in his own chest after he sees the three bolts all screwed in. 

Then, well- it's tradition in Six to get the next two days off from work. Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan only plan on taking one day off besides the wedding, as they’re all too invested in their work- Nancy with the recon squads, Jonathan with the propos squad, and Steve working with the little kids’ school- but they definitely plan on utilizing both nights they’re given in one of the few rooms reserved for newlyweds.

There’s plenty of laughter after they’ve locked the door and they start to shed their clothing, Steve ditching his jacket as Nancy and Jonathan peel off their respective tights, socks, and shoes. There are no waiting appointments for them here in Thirteen, no looming nights with Capitolite clients- no, for now and forevermore the only people the three of them will be having sex with are each other. They’ve got a huge bed for the night, perfect for sex, and Jonathan was never in this relationship for the sex but they haven’t been together for months and he can't deny he hasn't missed this.

Nancy kisses Steve, slow and hard, her hands threading through Steve’s hair, brushing across the nape of his neck. Jonathan watches for a moment, loving how comfortable they are with each other, but after a few moments Steve breaks apart from kissing Nancy and says, utter wonder in his voice: “We’re fucking _ married_.”

And Jonathan can’t help but laugh at this beautiful, stupid man that he just married in front of the entire country, during a Rebellion, half as a fuck-you to the President and half because he can’t imagine ever _ not _waking up to Steve’s laugh and Nancy’s smile.

“You’re a fucking sap,” he says, something tender sitting in his heart, and Steve grins at him.

“I’ve had plenty of training, thanks to you two,” Steve says, and that's the cheesiest thing that Jonathan's ever heard but he kind of needs that right now. So he leans in and kisses Steve.

Then go the shirts- first Jonathan’s, then Steve’s shirt comes off and- Jonathan pauses, for just a second, because the bruises are healed and most of the burns are nothing but faded patches but the scars from the whippings Steve experienced in those Capitol cells are still thick and ropy on his chest.

Jonathan’s fingers ghost against the scars as Nancy tosses Steve’s shirt on the floor.

The scars from their Games, the ones that they shared in some violent way, are long gone, Remade before they’d even gotten the chance to wake up from the Arena. These current scars on Steve’s chest and back- they’re reminders of the fact that the Capitol devoured him for a second time, put him through a second and third Arena.

But they’re also healed, too, that’s the thing- they’ve been away from the Capitol long enough for them to heal on their own, for there just to be white scars left behind. They weren’t Remade. They are still here, where the Capitol can’t clean them up and get rid of them.

Steve is _ safe_, here in Thirteen, or maybe he’s not safe, because there’s a war going on, but he's with them and he's alive and he's healing, and that's all that matters.

Jonathan leans in and kisses the scar that lines Steve’s shoulder blade as Nancy pulls Steve into a kiss from the other angle. Steve, in turn, kisses Nancy back, and in between all of this making out Steve and Jonathan help Nancy out of her wedding dress. It falls to the ground, leaving her in her bra and underwear, and Jonathan and Steve peel out of their pants as well.

Then Nancy tugs on their hands, pulling them onto the bed, and this isn’t their bed back in their apartment, with the thick green blanket that Steve had insisted on and the bedframe that Nancy bought and the black sheets that Jonathan had bought, but it’s their wedding and this is them and that’s all that matters.

(Twenty-four-years-old and the train has finally stopped, finding itself a place in a station that it will never have to leave.)

-

Jonathan has never seen anything more beautiful than Nancy and Steve waking up in the morning, the three of them curled together in the same bed. It's almost like old times, on the few mornings where neither Steve nor Nancy had had an appointment the night before, where they could pretend that their lives only belonged to them. 

A few hours later, they emerge from the room and back into the war. They put back on their Thirteen uniforms, giving their wedding outfits over to Cinna, and there’s nothing very different between them save the rings on their fingers and the rocks tucked into the tiny pockets inside of their jackets. They're still Nancy and Steve and Jonathan, Victors who survived their Games and fell in love with each other.

And they look forward to nothing more than taking back Two and toppling the Capitol. 

_Love is like sunlight. _

_You can give all of yourself to someone and still have all of yourself left to give to others, and to yourself. To your work. To anything or anyone you choose. _

_Love isn't like food; you won't starve anyone by giving it freely. _

_It's not a finite resource. _

**-Jacqueline Koyanagi**

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment or leave a kudos if you liked it- comments are the lifeblood of the writer, after all, and are greatly appreciated!


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